Guardian Angel
by RickHammersteel
Summary: On the sister colony to K-2L, it is said that a guardian angel comes every Christmas Eve to watch its inhabitants.


A pregnant woman sat on a bench, placing a tanned hand on her stomach. A man sat next to her, placing a hand on hers. The woman turned to him,"Honey, are you sure it's safe here?"

The man smiled at her, leaning his blonde head on her shoulder,"It's fine. She usually comes here at Christmas time."

The red-haired woman looked at him,"Who?"

"K-2M's own guardian angel." The man let out a happy sigh,"Criminals don't dare to attack when she's around."

"Sounds like some sort of urban legend." The woman scoffed.

"The people here sure believe in her." The man looked at a small stone structure in the distance,"This is also the time that she causes miracles, just by being there."

"Miracles, huh..." The woman looked at her belly, and smiled a little.

* * *

Samus' blue-green eyes stared at her target. She put a hand in the pocket of her dark green longcoat, and smiled,"That's it." She used her left hand to take the item, and looked it over. It was a small, blue crystal statue of two figures: A man in a suit who was carrying a woman in a long dress with a small scarf around her waist,"This is perfect." She held it in her hands, before turning to leave the aisle of the store.

She stopped behind a dark-skinned man with grey hair, who was holding a small blue toy soldier in his hand. She tapped her foot a little, looking up at the cashier's sign, which called it an express lane,"These things are never really that fast, are they?" She muttered to herself.

The cashier took the older man's toy and rang it up,"That'll be 20,000 credits." She said in a nasally voice.

The man took out his wallet, and sighed,"I... don't have enough." He shook his head,"I guess he'll have to deal with something else this Christmas." He left the toy on the counter, before beginning to leave.

Samus frowned at this, and held up her finger,"Uh, ma'am?"

The cashier looked at her,"Yes?"

Samus took the man's toy, and placed the statue behind it,"I'll pay for both of these."

The man looked at her with surprise,"What?"

The cashier took the statue, and rang it up,"It's 120,000 credits. Do you have enough?"

Samus reached into her longcoat pocket and brought out a card,"Here." she slid it into the card slot, causing it to ping.

The cashier looked at her with surprise,"That's a lot of money there, Miss."

Samus smirked,"Pocket change." She took both items in her arms. She walked over and handed the toy to the man,"Here."

The old man took the toy, and stared at it,"But... why?"

Samus walked by him,"I didn't like the idea of leaving a kid disappointed." She smiled as she began to leave.

The old man turned and waved at her,"Thank you!"

* * *

It was an unexpected payment, but not one she couldn't handle. Samus had done enough bounties that she could purchase her own mansion by now. In fact, she had thought of doing just that once or twice. Samus walked along the busy street, staring at the statue. She looked at the name on the grey base,"The Lovers." She smiled at it.

Her eyes then turned to the sight of a commotion. She ran towards the crowd, noticing that they were all looking up at the top of a hotel building. Her eyes trailed up, noticing a blonde woman in a blue tanktop on the edge.

A shorter blond girl started to panic next to her,"Oh, no, oh no!"

Samus turned to her,"Have the cops been called?"

The girl nodded,"I called them myself, but I don't think she has long!" She stepped in place,"She's always been a little impulsive, but I didn't' think she'd go this far!"

"You know her?" Samus asked.

The girl began to breathe heavily,"S-She's my sister..."

Samus frowned, handing her the statue,"Hold on to this, I'll take care of this."

The girl took the statue in her hands,"W-wh-" She trailed off as Samus ran to the building.

Samus began to go into an alleyway,"Better find a back entrance. If I go in front, I may risk her seeing me." She turned to the back, seeing a door,"There." In a flash of light, her orange armor appeared. She took her left armored hand, and grabbed it by the handle. She applied enough force to break the handle open, opening the door. She ran in, turning to notice a flight of stairs. She tapped her foot, and then began a run. In a flash, her Speed Booster kicked in, allowing her to run all the way up to the roof.

In another flash, her suit came off, putting her back in her coat. She slowly opened the door, spotting the young woman on the edge.

The woman turned her head at Samus,"Don't try to stop me! This is for everyone's own good!" She choked back a sob.

Samus frowned,"I'm not going to stop you." She said. It wasn't a total lie, she had every intention of putting her suit on and catching her if she attempted to jump. However, any sight of the suit may cause more harm than good,"I just want to know... why?"

The woman sniffled,"You wouldn't understand..."

"I won't understand it, but I still want to hear it." Samus said, her voice remaining calm as she slowly edged herself closer,"Let's start with an introduction, my name's Sam, what's yours?"

The woman looked down, before looking back at Samus,"L-Laura."

"Laura, what led you to consider ending it?" Samus asked, her voice remained level as she edged a little closer to the woman.

Laura's eyes narrowed in anger,"What didn't happen!? First off, my family hates me. I tried my damnedest to take care of them, but all I get are insults!"

"Insults?" Samus asked.

"Yeah, imagine being heaped with a crapton of responsibility, only to be seen as some sort of monster by everybody!" Laura said, tears running down her face.

"Your younger siblings see you as a monster?" Samus asked, getting within arm's length. Perfect for her to quickly grab the woman.

Laura nodded,"I do the best I can, but ever since Mom and Dad died, I've had so much responsibility placed on me." She let out a shuddered breath,"I'm so overwhelmed, and they expect so much of me."

Samus frowned. Dead parents, responsibility, high expectations. She knew those feelings. Granted, her main problems stemmed from killer aliens and galaxy-destroying threats, probably not the problems this poor woman is having,"You feel that your parents put a lot on your shoulders."

The woman nodded, before stepping off next to Samus,"I have a large family, and I'm only 18. I don't think I'm ready for this, you know?"

Samus put a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her close"Yeah, I can see that."

Laura made no attempt to struggle"I get mad a whole lot, but that's only because I'm so stressed out all the time. It's not like I'm trying to be a monster." She sniffled,"I love my siblings deeply, why can't they see that?"

Samus sighed,"I'm not sure."

"And yet I know I can't leave them. They're dead without me. What'll they do if they don't have me? What..." She looked up at Samus,"What would if I'm not needed anymore?"

"Not needed?" Samus asked.

"I want to feel like I'm needed, if not? Then I have nothing. I am nothing to them..." Laura hiccuped and then rubbed her nose.

Samus patted her shoulder,"Okay..."

"I..." Laura shuddered,"How tall is this building again?"

Samus looked over the edge,"10 stories."

Laura frowned, and shook her head,"I don't want to jump anymore, I'm cold, I'm hungry, and I want to go home."

Samus nodded, holding Laura close and carefully leading her to the rooftop door,"Alright, I'll lead you down."

Samus kept a close eye on her as she slowly took her down the building, heading down the stairs, before going through the front entrance. Samus' eyes caught the flashing lights of the police.

When Samus brought Laura out, her sister ran out and gave her a hug,"Sis!"

Laura hugged her back,"Hey." She said, weakly,"Sorry about this."

Samus smiled. The two sisters turned to her, the younger giving her the statue back,"Thanks, miss."

Samus gave her a salute with two of her fingers. She turned around, only to face a cop.

"That was brave of you, lady, but..." The cop coughed,"You really should leave it to the professionals."

Samus pulled something out from her jacket.

The cop took a step back, shaking his head embarrassingly,"Oh, I'm sorry, I- uh."

Samus let out a chuckle as she put her Bounty Hunter ID back," Don't worry, I get that a lot." She walked by him, continuing her main mission.

* * *

Samus sighed as she held the statue in her hand. It was a sad truth that suicide rates increased around this time. She could understand why, being an orphan without any family to celebrate with. She didn't really dwell on it much, though, she was too busy trying not to get killed.

Seeing people get so down that they attempt to take their own life made her sad, though. There's enough death in the galaxy without young people killing themselves. Life is too precious to allow suicides. Samus made sure at least one person lived tonight, that was sure to make a difference somewhere.

Samus then heard the sounds of sniffling. She turned her head to notice a brown haired 12-year old girl in a pink sweater on a stairstep. Sighing, she walked up to her,"What's wrong?"

The girl looked up at Samus, and pouted,"Well, I made a bunch of sweaters for some homeless people, and then a bunch of hoodlums stole them!"

Samus frowned at this,"Really?"

The girl nodded,"Those poor people are going to freeze to death because of those jerks!"

Samus narrowed her eyes,"Did you see where they went?"

The girl nodded,"I saw them go down West Street."

Samus handed her the statue,"Hold on to this, I'll get those sweaters back."

The girl held the statue in her hands,"Wait, really?"

Samus spun off and ran down Wes Street. In a flash of light, her suit came on. Her visor began to search for any signs of a group of sweaters in any place that wasn't a department store. Her eyes then spotted three men near a bin full of sweaters. She stopped and listened carefully.

"Heh, that little girl thought she could get away with this.' One man said.

Another smiled,"It's her fault for being Stan's niece."

Samus frowned,"So it was for grudge, eh?" She didn't have time for this.

She stomped down the alley they were waiting at, and made sure her footsteps were as loud, and scary as possible.

The three men turned around and watched as Samus made her way to them, her visor glowing in the night. Two of them gulped,"Run!" They said as they sped off.

The last one growled,"What the heck? Did Stan send you or somethin'"

"You took a little girl's sweaters. She put a lot of care into making them." Samus growled,"I suggest you let me have them back, or I'll make sure you have a very red Christmas."

The man snarled,"Look, it's nothing personal, that kid just got in the middle of this mess."

Samus aimed her armcannon at him.

"What, no words?" The man stepped forward.

Samus' armcannon charged with a yellow light.

The man frowned,"Go ahead, I've got nothing left to live for."

Samus stopped,"What?"

"I lost my job, my wife left me, my landlord kicked me out, do you think I care if you kill me or not?" The man shouted.

Samus frowned,"I'm sorry that happened to you, but that's no reason to go after an innocent girl."

"You don't know me!" The man pulled out a gun,"You don't know me at all!" He put it at his head,"In fact, if you won't kill me-"

A blast came from Samus' armcannon, blasting the gun out. He held his hand in pain, before Samus ran up to him, and punched him in the face,"I'll put you on suicide watch." Samus said, calling the police with her suit. She took the bin of sweaters.

The little girl kicked her feet in the air, before watching as a bin of sweaters landed in front of her. She grinned as she jumped up,"You brought them back!"

Samus leaned her arm on the bin, and smiled,"Yep."

The little girl gave her the statue back,"Thank you. Those poor homeless are going to be nice and warm thanks to you!"

Samus turned around and began to walk away,"No thanks are necessary."

The little girl waved as Samus walked off.

* * *

Samus found a large stone pillar with several names on it. She looked on the bottom, which had a plaque that read,"K-2L Memorial."

Samus took a look at two names in particular, and left the statue at the pillar's base,"Hey, Mom, Dad. Sorry, I'm late today, it seemed like everything that could go wrong did today." She chuckled a little,"I bought a guy a present, stopped a jumper, and brought home a bunch of sweaters. It was kind of busy."

She knelt down and sighed,"I brought you a present. Not much, but what do you expect? I barely remember you two, so I'm not entirely sure what to get. The Chozo don't celebrate Christmas, so I can't get them anything."

She crossed her legs at the base,"I wonder what you two would've given me? A new weapon? A ship?" She leaned back,"I mean, in my line of work, what would I even want?" She frowned,"Well, there is one thing, but I don't think it's possible."

She tapped her fingers on her knee,"Do you think I did enough today? What if that guy I gave that toy too was lying? What if that young woman decides to kill herself tomorrow when I'm not around? What if that little girl's sweaters aren't good enough?" She frowned, looking up at the names.

Then she smiled,"Maybe I'm being too pessimistic. That toy probably made some kid's day. That young woman went home to a group of loving, worried siblings. That little girl's sweaters probably saved some from the frigid cold." She looked at the rest of the names on the pillar,"It's amazing how doing so little can do so much, right? These people on the wall probably gave their lives to try and protect the colony. Though I may be the last survivor, the fact that they tried to do good is something, right?" She looked down at the ground,"Just like me, right? I do my best to do good and make someone's life better."

She sighed,"Are you two proud of me? Proud of what I've been doing? I," She clenched her fists,"I just wished I had you here just this once, to talk to me, or at least tell me that if I've been doing the right thing!?" She unclenched her fists,"I miss you two so much." She wiped her eyes a little.

She got up,"I hope you like the present, Mom, Dad. Merry Christmas." her suit came on,"I've got work to do. I'll be back later."

* * *

The couple leaned on the bench, only to watch as a ship flew off in the distance, becoming a shooting star,"Look, is that the guardian angel?" The woman asked.

The man smiled,"Probably. You know, I wonder if she knows just how much good she's done for us?"


End file.
